Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Malaysia’s elections: Should the international community care? — Ambiga Sreenevasan

Malaysia’s elections: Should the international community care? — Ambiga Sreenevasan

October 15, 2012

Malaysian Insider-- Side Views

OCT 15 — Those in the international community may be forgiven
for saying, “Is there a problem with the democratic process in
Malaysia?”

In the international arena, our leaders portray Malaysia as a
moderate Islamic nation that is built on the democratic principles that
are enshrined in our Federal Constitution. The fundamental rights of
freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, the
right to life and a fair electoral process, are indeed guaranteed under
our Federal Constitution.

The reality is, however, far less idyllic. There are serious
questions whether these rights are respected and upheld by those in
power.

Since before the 1990’s, Malaysians have been pushing for a reform of
the system of governance. There has been growing discontent over issues
like rampant corruption, abuse of power, deaths in custody and
selective prosecution (or persecution), to name but a few of the
grouses.

We are increasingly alarmed by the use of race and religion by
politicians to divide the people for political gain, with no regard
whatsoever for the possible long term consequences of this conduct.

We note with disgust our mainstream media descending to the lowest
depths of junk journalism. We are appalled at the growing instances of
political violence.

In the clearest example of how low we have sunk, human rights
defenders and civil society who are seen as opposing the government are
facing ruthless attacks by the government of the day. SUARAM,
established in 1989 and who has in the past year been exposing possible
corruption by Malaysians in high places in the purchase of Scorpene
submarines from France, is suddenly facing investigation by several
government agencies.

The mainstream media is once again playing its role in showing no
regard whatsoever for presenting the whole truth. In a front page news
story, preposterous claims were made that NGOs like SUARAM and BERSIH
were funded by organisations like National Democratic Institute (NDI)
and Open Society Institute (OSI) for the purpose of overthrowing the
government. Directors of SUARAM have been hauled up by enforcement
agencies for their expose on the corruption, yet our anti- corruption
agency fails to even begin to investigate the claims of SUARAM that a
huge commission of RM500 million had been received by a Malaysian entity
in the Scorpene deal.

Civil society is now continuously portrayed in the media as the enemy
who is seeking to overthrow the government at the behest of foreign
powers. These accusations have also been hurled at BERSIH, more so since
July last year when we had a successful rally of more than 50,000
people on the streets of KL, clamouring for clean and fair elections.
Another rally was held in April this year when more than 200,000 people
were on the streets, again asking for electoral reform.

Malaysians do not easily take to the streets. The numbers must mean that there were good reasons why they did.

I will not go into more details of the attacks that human rights
defenders have had to face by those in authority or those who had the
tacit approval of the authorities. Suffice it to say they have been
sustained and relentless.

When asked, our leaders will say that this government is reforming
because of the replacement of many oppressive laws, and the apparent
move to greater democracy. They will say that after the BERSIH rally
last year, a parliamentary select committee for electoral reform was set
up and a report issued.

What they don’t go on to explain is what replaces these oppressive
laws and what they are doing to effectively implement the PSC
recommendations. In my view, the new legislation just does not go far
enough, and the important recommendations of the PSC report are largely
ignored or poorly implemented.

BERSIH also continues to receive reports of electoral malpractices
and the integrity of the electoral roll leaves much to be desired. Our
Election Commission does not enjoy public confidence and is not seen by
many as independent. This together with all the other issues that plague
our system of governance leads to the inevitable conclusion that the
next crucial general elections will be seriously flawed.

All the so-called reforms are like attempting to varnish a table that
is ridden with termites. It is difficult to fix a system that is
fundamentally flawed by building on the same rotten foundation. That is,
even if there is real political will to reform.

The Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security which is
headed by Mr. Kofi Annan and which has many distinguished members
including H.E Dr Ernesto Zedillo former President of Mexico, Dr
Madeleine K. Albright and Professor Amartya Sen, issued a ground-breaking report on clean and fair elections dated September 2012.

In his foreword, Kofi Annan states, “The spread of democracy across
the world has been one of the most dramatic changes I have witnessed
over the course of my career. In country after country, people have
risked their lives to call for free elections, democratic
accountability, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Elections
are the indispensable root of democracy…..”

I make no apologies for quoting from this report at length for I
cannot say it better. The report clearly outlines that clean and fair
elections are not just about choosing leaders, but are about building a
solid framework for a democracy that works for the people. After
studies, the following were some of the conclusions arrived at:

1. “Elections with integrity are important to values that we hold
dear — human rights and democratic principles. Elections give life to
rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including freedom
of opinion and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association,
the right to take part in the government of one’s country through
freely elected representatives, the right of equal access to public
service in one’s country, and the recognition that the authority of
government derives from the will of the people, expressed in “genuine
periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and
shall be held by secret ballot.

2. Elections are fundamental to the ethos and principles of democracy…..

3. Citizens lose confidence in democratic processes when elections
are not inclusive, transparent, and accountable. When elections have
integrity, they bolster democracy, respect fundamental rights, and
produce elected officials who are more likely to represent their
citizens’ interests.

4. But in addition to promoting democratic values and human rights,
elections with integrity can also yield other tangible benefits for
citizens. Evidence from around the world suggests that elections with
integrity matter for empowering women, fighting corruption, delivering
services to the poor, improving governance, and ending civil wars…….

5. Electoral accountability, in turn, is associated with lessening government corruption…….

6. Electoral accountability, in turn, has direct benefits for improving representation of the poor……
..
7. Even in countries emerging from civil wars — the most difficult of
contexts for building democracy — research now shows that when the
termination of the war is accompanied by elections in which former
combatants run for office and campaign for votes, countries are less
likely to revert to civil war. At the same time, however, other studies
note that fraudulent elections are correlated with societal violence and
political instability…….”
In an interview after the presentation of the report, Stephen
Stedman, director of the Global Commission and a political scientist
from Stanford was asked what the motivation was for the report.

In speaking of the chairman Kofi Annan, he said that Annan was “driven
by his experience of having to deal with several elections in Africa
that had become violent and had gone off the rails. And there is a
frustration he feels about how little attention had been paid to those
places before they blew up”. (The emphasis is mine)

Let us be clear. Malaysia is not facing the problems or the
hopelessness that gave rise to the Arab Spring. We are blessed with an
abundance of resources and talent. But to assume that all is well and
that there is no need to scrutinise the democratic processes, would be a
mistake.

We want change before things do blow up in our faces. We do not want
an Arab Spring. We want to choose our leaders in clean and fair
elections. If there is to be change, we want to do it through the ballot
box.
If the government is willing to overlook, and in fact tacitly
support, corruption and abuse of power, and promote racism and religious
bigotry for its own ends, how can we trust that the elections will be
clean and fair?

There is even an admission of malpractices in the past. A Royal
Commission of Inquiry has been set up by the government in the state of
Sabah in respect of a large number of foreigners having been given
citizenships in exchange for votes for more than 20 years. BERSIH has
received reports that this practice continues and even in West Malaysia.

Why is this happening? It is because the party that has been in power
for 55 years is now feeling vulnerable. As Aung Sang Suu Kyi has
famously said, “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing
power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power
corrupts those who are subject to it.”

So why should one country be bothered about electoral processes in another?

We know that if any such suggestion is made, the immediate diplomatic
response is that there will be no interference by one country into such
domestic matters of another country. Not that this is entirely true in
fact.
As observed of the international community in the commission report
“While their rhetorical support for elections with integrity may be
constant, their record of responding to flawed elections is not. In some
cases, their interest lies in bolstering a preferred candidate, not in
an election with integrity per se.

Too often, democratic governments have turned a blind eye to
electoral malpractice by regimes and incumbents with whom they have
friendly relations”.

And the best answer to why everyone should be interested in clean and fair elections everywhere is stated in the report thus:

“We still live in a world in which
states act on their strategic interests. The key lies in reminding
democratic governments that their strategic interest is best served by
supporting elections with integrity. Not only do democratic governments
share an interest in the spread of democracy as a bulwark for
international peace, but they must also learn that their bilateral
relations are strengthened when their partners have democratic
legitimacy earned through genuine elections.”

Malaysia is a member of many important regional and international
organisations and appears to enjoy the confidence of its neighbours. We
can set valuable examples in the region. We have what it takes to be a
role model.

But we can only be that if the example we set is one of a truly
democratic system of governance borne out of clean and fair elections.
And if we are to be valuable contributors to the global community, then
it is in everyone’s interests that our elections are clean and fair.

* Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan is co-chair of the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (BERSIH).